Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Quick Post: Further Pac-whatever expansion on the horizon?!??!?

The stories out of the Red River Valley become more concerning by the hour. OU and UT met to hash out their differences, and OU came away as committed to leaving the Big XII as ever. Word is that OU (with little brother OSU in tow) will apply for asylum in the Pac-12 within a fortnight.

I think it goes without saying that further expansion of the Pac-12 erodes the sweet situation CU found themselves in when they originally headed west. Now, with former Big-8 rivals begging to follow, CU's California Dreamin' may be turn back into Stillwater and Norman realities. Yearly trips to the recruiting hotbed of Los Angeles would be in doubt, and fewer vacation-esque road trips to San Francisco and Seattle would pop up in future schedules.

This all rests on whether uber-commish Larry Scott is true to his word that he doesn't want further expansion. If he sticks by his guns, and the Sooner duo is re-buffed, then all is well, and CU can continue to graze peacefully in the protected valley of the Pac-12. If not, and OU and OSU end up joining the Pac-12, then the wolves will essentially have been released into the herd.

Most worrisome is this line in Wilner's column: "The Oklahoma schools are almost certain to receive an invitation to the Pac-12 if they apply for admission. [...] Despite grumbling from Colorado and others, Scott will have the votes he needs to add the Oklahoma schools."

Don't do it, El Jeffe, (btw, I now refer to Larry Scott as El Jeffe), tell the State of Oklahoma to fuck off!

Expansion would only mean steps closer to dueling 8 team 'mini conferences' which would lock the NW schools back into LA on a annual basis. While the Nor-Cal schools already have that concession, the rest would be secretly all for it.

As for the Arizonas, they're undoubtedly be on our side, as they'd be cutoff from LA almost entirely along with us. I don't really have a read on Utah, but can't imagine they'd want to play OU every season.

This would make the conference a better basketball league, however, so maybe a silver lining.